Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 3.075
August 12, 1993
1) Beheyme (Ellen Prince)
2) Yiddish font (Gurion Hyman)
3) Semantics of O'GUL & HOIL (Gurion Hyman)
4) Thanksgiving (David Sherman)
5) Second International Yiddish Club Conference (Fishl Kutner)
1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon Aug 9 17:51:05 1993
From: "Ellen F. Prince"
Subject: Beheyme
re arnold kuzmack's question about _beheyme_:
as for the gender-marking of the yiddish term, it was used for both
males and females where i come from and i don't remember any
connotation of fatness. it was more or less a synonym of _grubyan_
(_grobyan_?), except that the latter was used for males only, as i
recall. i'd love to hear something about this term, btw--is it the
yiddish version of french _grosjean_ 'fat john'? (interestingly,
neither _grubyan_ nor _grosjean_ have anything to do with fatness
either--just crudeness and ignorance.)
ellen prince
2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue Aug 10 12:08:24 1993
From: Avi_J._Hyman@magic-bbs.corp.apple.com
Subject: Yiddish font
In the past I have mentioned that I created a Yiddish font for the
MAC. Several people have written me for a copy of same, but
unfortunately, my home node does not allow me to send attached files
through the gateway. Therefore, if you want a FREE copy of my font,
please send me a MAC disk with a stamped self-addressed envelope,
and I'll mail it back to you with pleasure.
Gurion Hyman
38 Avenal Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6C-1V4
3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue Aug 10 10:31:13 1993
From: Avi_J._Hyman@magic-bbs.corp.apple.com
Subject: semantics of O'GUL & HOIL
While working on my Etymological Dictionary, I came across a
curious semantic problem. The word I was researching came from the
Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary by Alexander Harkavy, 4th edition,
1928. It is the Yiddish word "O'GUL" (p.3) [ the ' marks stress on
following syllable] and the meaning given is "wholesale". This comes
from either Russian "o'gulom" which means "wholesale; pell-mell; in
a heap", or Polish "o'gol" Tthe whole, total, at large; general,
commonU. These are derived from the Indo-European root *qoil-,
meaning "whole, complete; sound, healthy".
Some other derivatives from this root are [forgive the lack
of diacritics]: Old Indian (Sanskrit) kalyah ThealthyU; sarva-
Twhole; every, (pl.) allU. Old Slavic (Church-Slavic) celu Twhole,
complete, sound, unharmedU; celiti Tto healU. Greek ka'los Thealthy
> beautifulU; 'holos TwholeU. Latin salvus (early) TwholeU,
(usually) Tsafe, well, soundU. Old High German, Middle High German,
Modern German heil Tcomplete, whole, healthyU.
There is another group with the meaning of Tbare, baldU
which, my sources indicate, are also derived from the same root.
Some examples are: Old Indian ati-kulva-, Tentirely baldU; khalati-,
Tbald-headedU. Avestic kaurva- TbaldU. Lettish kails Tbare; baldU.
Old Slavic golu TbareU. Russ 'goliy TbareU; ogol'yatU, ogo'li:tU
Tto strip, expose, lay bareU. Polish goly TbareU. Czech ho'ly.
Yiddish HOIL TbareU; GOLN (ZIKH) Tto shaveU. Latin calvus TbaldU.
Old High German kalo. Middle High German kal. Ger kahl. Old English
calu Tbare, baldU.
I would appreciate it very much if anyone could present a
plausible semantic connection between these two meanings: (1)whole,
complete, healthy, and (2) bare, naked, bald. (I have been offered
the following: one can tell if an individual is healthy only when
s/he stands uncovered, e.g. Greek athletes who competed naked in the
games and gymnasia in ancient times).
Gurion Hyman
4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue Aug 10 12:36:41 1993
From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca (David Sherman)
Subject: Thanksgiving
> From: WALDOKS@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU
> Dos heysst az
> men gibt a klorer blick oyf dem Amerikanisher Thanksgiving zeyt men
> az di Pilgrims hobn mistomeh gepravet Thanksgiiving nisht sof
> November , ober Sukkes zayt.
I don't know how the U.S. Thanksgiving ended up in November, but
ours (Canada) is in October -- typically around Sukkes-tsayt indeed.
David Sherman
5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed Aug 11 10:52:16 1993
From: Philip Kutner
Subject: Second International Yiddish Club Conference
Toronto has accepted the offer to host the Second International
Yiddish Club Conference to be held October 7-10, 1994. This is over
the Canadian Thanksgiving and the U.S. Columbus Day Weekend.
After the highly successful First Conference at the U of MD over the
last Memorial Day Weekend, the Committee of the 4 Yiddish Club
Newsletters in North America and an independent representative met
to charter the direction of the newly-formed group.
Bess Shockett will be heading the conference. Her husband Barry is
the editor of Dos Bletl, the newsletter of the Friends of Yiddish.
When the international Yiddish Club Conference Committee visited
Toronto, they stayed at the hotel and visited the University
facilities of the Ontario Institute for the Study of Education where
we will be staying and holding the sessions and workshops.
Convenience to the subway, museums, boutiques and major sight-seeing
locations make this an excellent choice for participants whose
traveling companion may not wish to spend the entire time at the
conference.
There will be a major effort to attract even younger participants by
having workshops and sessions on computers and offering baby-
sitting for couples needing this service. There also will be a
greatly expanded vendor presence and sessions on intermediate and
advanced Yiddish.
Details will be posted on Mendele as plans evolve.
Fishl
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End of Mendele Vol. 3.075